It is known that confined areas such as at a corner where the wall meets the ceiling, or beside a moulding, are very difficult to illuminate well with a traditional work light during the painting process, since these high powered lights cast numerous shadows directly in front of the painter's brush, making it difficult to see and paint accurately, causing the painter lost time and frustration from having to repeatedly move and or adjusting the work light in order to properly illuminate the work area.
Some prior attempts have been made to try to address the problem. In one example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,773 issued on Apr. 17, 1990 (McCoy) describes an illumination means, complete with power source, mounted onto the ferrule area of a paintbrush, to illuminate a general area directly ahead of the brush. One bulb is mentioned as the light source. Therefore, if lighting is required in a different or more specific area, the painter must manipulate the brush to obtain better lighting, which could interfere with the quality of the paint job, and be frustrating for the painter. Also, by having the power source of the illumination means mounted on the ferrule area, additional bulk is added to that area, which may block the painter's view and also affect the natural gripping of the brush. Because the illumination means in McCoy is attached to the ferrule with wires, the ferrule area must be custom-designed to accept the wires. The wires are not easily detachable from the ferrule, which also interferes with the natural gripping of the brush, and makes cleaning of the mounting mechanism and surrounding area difficult. The design focuses on cleaning paint from the bristles, but no mention is made of any type of water/paint splatter protection, seals or water-resistant qualities to protect any features, including the bulb, of the illumination means.
In another example, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0215391 filed Dec. 29, 2005 (Jones et al.) describes a lighted detail brush with a custom-shaped handle that includes a housing that contains and retains the bristles when they are not in use, and a light (or plurality of lights) is connected to the housing, whereby the bristles are concealable and protected in the housing when the implement is not in use and extendable when the implement is in use. In Jones et al., if lighting is required in a different or more specific area, the user must manipulate the brush or manually point the light, which again could interfere with the quality of the paint job, and be frustrating for the painter. Protecting the bristles by retracting them is impractical in the case of larger paintbrushes, which are often the brushes of choice when cutting in. Again, no mention is made of any type of water/paint splatter protection, seals or water-resistant qualities to protect any features, including the bulb, of the illumination means.
Therefore, there is a need to further improve illumination means and accessories to address the limitations found in the prior art.